The present invention relates to the general art of woodworking, and to the particular field of woodworking with bending, and specifically to woodworking with bending concurrent with or subsequent to bonding.
The building industry has long used wood that has been shaped into arcuate shapes. Such arcuate shapes have been used in doorways, windows and the like as well as many other applications that will occur to those skilled in the art. Some of the shapes require simple curves, while others may require complex and/or compound curves. These curved shapes have been achieved using wood that has been specially grown, or combining short wood shapes, or by bending wood into the desired shape. Bending wood provides the most versatility and thus is the most desirable for modern needs.
Some applications require strong wood, as for supports or the like. However, strong wood may be difficult to bend because the very characteristic desired, strength, makes it difficult to bend or shape the wood. The art thus contains examples of machines that can be used to bend wood, even strong or thick wood. Such machines include hydraulics or mechanical elements. While somewhat successful in some applications, these machines can be very complex, expensive and difficult to operate. Often, such machines require special skills of an operator thereby limiting the versatility of such machines.
Therefore, there is a need for a unit and a method for bending wood that can be used in a wide variety of applications, even for strong and/or thick wood.
If a worker must learn special techniques to operate a machine, there will be a loss of time during the learning process. There may even be a loss of product as mistakes are made during the learning process.
There is a still further need for a unit and a method for bending wood that is easy to use and easy to learn, even by a non-skilled worker.
Laminated elements are often used in many applications. As is known, laminated elements are formed by adhesively fixing a plurality of individual elements, or layers, together. However, during the drying process for the adhesive, the individual layers can slip relative to each other. Such a situation is very undesirable as the finished product may be unusable. Many machines and processes for bending wood have a disadvantage if laminated products are to be bent because the layers may slip relative to each other during the bending process. This may be especially true if the laminated product is difficult to bend and requires great pressure to achieve the desired bending. Great bending pressure may increase the possibility of layer relative slippage in a laminated product.
Therefore, there is a need for a machine and process for bending laminated products that has a low probability of causing individual layers of the product to slip with respect to each other during the bending process.
While the art has many machines that can bend wood, some of these machines are so complicated to set up and operate that only highly skilled and specialized workers can properly operate them. For example, some of the presently-available machines require computer programs to set a curve to be achieved by wood being bent. Thus, only workers who are adept at computer programs can fully obtain the benefits of such machines.
Therefore, there is a need for a machine and process for bending wood that can be fully utilized by a worker that is not highly skilled.
While the above-discussed drawbacks inhibit the full realization of the advantages associated with woodbending, by far the most serious disadvantage of presently-available machines and processes is the limited nature of the control that can be exercised over the curve being set for the wood. That is, some parts of the desired curve cannot be fully controlled using presently-available machines and processes. There are discontinuities in the control curve of presently-available machines and processes. This can best be visualized by analogy. It can be visualized by comparing a digital control to an analog control. Since a digital control is finite, no matter how fine the increments are, there will be discontinuities between set intervals. Such discontinuities are inherent in a digital control and cannot be avoided. Thus, there will be some areas of a digitally set control curve that simply cannot be controlled due to the inherent discontinuous nature of digital control. On the other hand, however, an analog control is, by its nature, continuous. Since an analog controlled curve is continuous and uninterrupted, there will be no areas of such an analog controlled curve that cannot be controlled.
Therefore, there is a need for a machine and a process for bending wood that can set a continuous and uninterrupted control curve for the bent wood.
Still further, many woodworking processes generate a great deal of debris, such as dust, adhesive and the like. Such debris may clog or damage presently-available machines, especially those that have a great many complicated and complex parts, such as screws, computers and the like. Such machines may have to be cleaned on a very short interval. This may be costly in time as well as manpower.
Therefore, there is a need for a machine and a process for bending wood that is not susceptible to clogging and the like due to debris associated with a woodworking process.
Still further, many presently-available machines are difficult to clean. Thus, if adhesive or dust settles in the parts of some presently-available machines, the machine may be subject to a long downtime and may require a great deal of service to clean. This can be expensive in both time and costs and thus can be undesirable.
Therefore, there is a need for a machine and a process for bending wood that is easily and quickly cleaned.
Most presently-available machines are quite bulky and large. Therefore, when the machine is not in use, a great deal of space can be occupied that might otherwise be used for other purposes. This can translate into a cost.
Therefore, there is a need for a machine and a process for bending wood that is easily, quickly and conveniently stored when not in use.
Many presently-available machines are designed for a particular application. Such machines may not be easily adapted for other applications and thus are not as versatile as they could be. Such lack of versatility can be viewed as an increase in cost for the machine.
Therefore, there is a need for a machine and a process for bending wood that is easily and quickly modified for a wide variety of jobs.
Many presently-available machines and processes require complex procedures for set up. This is especially true for the machines that use computers. Such machines cannot be quickly set up especially by an unskilled worker. Long set up times can be costly.
Therefore, there is a need for a machine and a process for bending wood that is easily and quickly set up, even by an unskilled worker.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide a unit and a method for bending wood that can be used in a wide variety of applications, even for strong and/or thick wood.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a unit and a method for bending wood that is easy to use, even by a non-skilled worker.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine and process for bending laminated products that has a low probability of causing individual layers of the product to slip with respect to each other during the bending process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine and process for bending wood that can be fully utilized by a worker that is not highly skilled.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine and a process for bending wood that can set a continuous and uninterrupted control curve for the bent wood.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine and a process for bending wood that is not susceptible to clogging and the like due to debris associated with a woodworking process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine and a process for bending wood that is easily and quickly cleaned.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine and a process for bending wood that is easily and quickly learned.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine and a process for bending wood that is easily, quickly and conveniently stored when not in use.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine and a process for bending wood that is easily and quickly modified for a wide variety of jobs.
These, and other, objects are achieved by a unit for bending wood or other material into arcuate shapes which comprises a magnetically attractive workpiece-supporting surface, a trammel that is magnetically fixed to the workpiece-supporting surface at a center of curvature of a desired arcuate shape for a wood workpiece-when in use, a curve identifying element on the trammel that is set to define a radius of curvature for the desired arcuate shape when the trammel is moved over the workpiece-supporting surface, a continuous and uninterrupted curve defined by the curve identifying element as the trammel is moved over the workpiece-supporting surface, a form block that is fixed to the workpiece-supporting surface adjacent to the curve at a selected position, an electromagnet in the form block fixing the form block to the workpiece-supporting surface, a clamp block that is fixed to the workpiece-supporting surface adjacent to the curve and adjacent to the form block, and an electromagnet in the clamp block fixing the clamp block to the workpiece-supporting surface. A method for achieving these, and other, objects includes providing a magnetically attractive workpiece-supporting surface, defining a continuous and uninterrupted first arcuate portion for a wood workpiece, locating a plurality of form blocks at any and all desired locations adjacent to the continuous and uninterrupted first arcuate portion for the wood workpiece, locating a clamp block adjacent to each form block of the plurality of form blocks, electromagnetically fixing all of the form blocks and all of the clamp blocks to the workpiece-supporting surface, placing a wood workpiece between at least one form block and adjacent to a clamp block, securely clamping the wood workpiece between the one form block and the adjacent clamp block, repeating the steps of securely clamping the wood workpiece between form blocks and clamp blocks until the wood workpiece has been securely clamped between all form blocks and the clamp blocks adjacent thereto.
Using the machine and method of the present invention permits wood, even laminated wood, to be bent in a very accurate manner, while still being easily and quickly set up and carried out even by a relatively unskilled worker. The continuous and uninterrupted nature of the control curve permits the form blocks and the clamp blocks to be set at any and all desired locations whereby the most effective application of bending forces can be applied to the wood. The holding and clamp blocks apply even pressure to the wood over the entire width of the wood, no matter how wide or narrow the wood, whereby no slippage between laminated layers will occur during the bending and drying process. Due to the continuous and uninterrupted nature of the control curve, the form and clamp blocks can be easily and quickly set up even by a non-skilled worker so the machine and process of the present invention are extremely versatile. The electromagnetic features of the machine and process permit quick set up of the machine and its parts, yet will hold the form and clamp blocks securely enough even for thick wood. The form and clamp blocks can be easily moved into the desired locations and then the electromagnets activated to securely fix those elements in place. Since the electromagnets are not activated until after the blocks are in the desired locations, movement and adjustment of the blocks is quick and easy. Since the blocks are held electromagnetically, the blocks are held in place securely enough for all purposes and applications.
The machine and process are extremely versatile so the workpiece-supporting surface can be used for other jobs as well as simply bending wood. Still further versatility is added because the machine and process of the present invention is amenable to use with conventional techniques and knowledge so a worker is not required to learn new techniques which will substantially increase the efficiency of the machine and process. Many different types of curves, even complex and compound curves, are easily formed using the machine and process of the present invention. The workpiece-supporting surface can be easily fit into any available space